The NFL has begun enhanced mitigation protocols — including mandatory indoor masking — for the Titans in the wake of their positive coronavirus tests this week, NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills said Thursday.
The Bears play the Titans on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee.
Nine Titans players or coaches have been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, which is set aside for those who test positive or unvaccinated players that are close contacts of those who do. Coach Mike Vrabel tested positive Sunday, and quarterback Ryan Tannehill was placed on the list Thursday. Vrabel is vaccinated; Tannehill said at the start of training camp he was in the process of doing so. General manager Jon Robinson told reporters Thursday the Titans were 97-98% vaccinated.
League-wide, almost 93% of players are vaccinated, Sills said, while, per league rules, all coaches and staff without a religious exemption have been vaccinated.
Sills said that, league-wide, 68 people out of 7,190 individuals tested positive between Aug. 1 and Aug. 20. Among that group, the incidence rate was seven times higher for unvaccinated people than vaccinated ones. The cases were almost all the delta variant.
The NFL tests unvaccinated players every other week. The NFLPA wants to increase the frequency to daily; the league has countered with once per week.
Matt Barkley, the former Bears quarterback, will start in place of Tannehill on Saturday.
